Migrating architectures: Palladio’s legacy from Calcutta to New Delhi

Abstract

Palladianism, which originated in Italy, is a style of architecture which spread widely across the world and has been extensively studied. It is known that it migrated to the UK during the eighteenth century at the same time as it did to Germany through Georg Knobelsdorff, to Russia through the work of Charles Cameron and Giacomo Quarenghi, to the US through Thomas Jefferson between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and was adopted in Poland, Sweden, and elsewhere. Palladianism became a tool of politicians and a status symbol for the elites to differentiate themselves from the common man. There are a few studies on the migration and adoption of Palladianism in India, primarily in relation to Calcutta’s architecture between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In particular, there is specific research focusing on Lord Wellesley’s Palladian building programme, frequently highlighting the relationship between Government House, Calcutta and Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire. This essay focuses on the subject of the migration of Palladian architecture and, in particular, on its adoption by the capitals of India, Calcutta and Delhi, on the basis of primary archival material.